Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I have been waiting for about a year now. At long last, the boys from Frangipani have opened their first of three restaurants at Troika. Cantaloupe is a fine dining restaurant that is long overdue but well worth the wait. The menu is a natural progression from Frangipani's. Its more refined, more complex and mature, its grown up. And pretty high up on the 24th floor. Its currently running a small soft opening menu so if you like options, many options, then maybe you should wait until the full menu is ready. I quite like this small menu of 4-5 options at each category, it makes decision making a lot quicker. On the night that I went, there were only two options for main course and they were both beef. I didn't quite feel like beef so I had 3 smaller courses instead. The amuse bouche was a delicious smoked duck wafer with maple syrup foam and raspberry coulis. Doesn't sound like it would gel but the flavours actually work really well. The salty smokiness of the duck with the tangy raspberry and hint of sweetness from the maple syrup. Sigh, wish there was more of it.

My first was was a croquette of sorts. It sounds a little odd on paper with peekytoe crab and oat carbonara but its actually a lovely golden nugget of creamy crab croquette that looks a little like a muesli bar when it arrives. Accompanied with some truffle shavings and brussel sprout leaves. I'm not kidding you when I say leaves. It was delicious. Light, creamy, crisp, salty, sweet... Hunky had oysters which he did not share so I'm guessing they must've been good. Second course was slow-cooked pigeon but I think I must not have read the menu properly as I did not recognize it when it arrived. I was expecting a bird or part of a bird but what arrived was a terrine of bird, foie gras and chicken. It was to be my least favourite dish of the night. I think the flavours for me got somewhat lost in translation. The highlight of the evening for me was probably the lobster with crisp fried beef tendon. Surf and turf gets the atas treatment at Cantaloupe! I love the sweet clean flavours of the lobster against the rich crispy salty beef tendon. I cannot stress enough how delicious this was. The little cubes of globe artichoke and carrots were a delicate touch and added to my source of veg. Three courses down and barely a mouthful of vegetables.

And finally dessert. I see a reincarnation of Frangipani's signature chocolate ganache meringue sandwich. I didn't think this dessert could be improved on but clearly I was wrong. Its bolder, punchier, its got attitude. I think this dessert sums up the menu at Cantaloupe. The only thing I would gripe about is the foam overkill. I don't want my food frothing at the mouth. Apart from that, it was superb fine dining!